Design of assemblies having fastened joints may require knowledge of fastener flexibilities for various types of fasteners in various materials. For a given joint geometry and fastener type, determining the percentage of load carried by each individual fastener depends, in part, upon the flexibility value of each fastener.
Methodologies for theoretically calculating fastener flexibilities are known. However, the values of fastener flexibility obtained using these methodologies may have questionable accuracy and reliability. For example, calculated results may not agree between the various theoretical methods.
Thus, obtaining fastener flexibilities from test data is desirable. However, known test methods may be associated with various drawbacks, such as the need to use sensitive and expensive test instrumentation as well as uncertainty and/or inaccessibility of the measurement locations of interest.